


Mael

by Luminaryquitecontrary



Category: Etrian Odyssey IV: Legends of the Titan
Genre: Baldur and Logre are mentioned, Gen, do i need to tag spoilers for a game that's been out for 6 years
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-06
Updated: 2020-01-06
Packaged: 2021-02-22 15:28:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 674
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22151581
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Luminaryquitecontrary/pseuds/Luminaryquitecontrary
Summary: Maybe if she could stand the bastards who surrounded the Imperial Prince she would have pursued a position as one of his guards- but the time for that passed the moment her captain sent their airship hurtling over the cloud barrier.A former imperial soldier thinks on how much she resents both the people back in her homeland and with her now.
Kudos: 2





	Mael

"You really should know better, you know."  
Lying on her back, Maelyrs coldly repeated her harsh comments to her party leader. 

Ironically enough, she parroted her former captain frequently despite her disdain for him- bringing her to this place and then dying...leaving her stranded in that god-awful forest. Who the hell did he think he was?

Eerie resemblance to her former squadron members aside, Maelyrs really did dislike her party leader. Maybe it wasn't the disdain she conveyed to her, but it was frustrating to see someone so naive...so irritatingly determined to push herself to the point of collapse for the sake of finding Yggdrasil. 

There really wasn't any point in telling them. They'd find out what a worthless piece of trash Yggdrasil really was, and then they'd be disappointed. She'd laugh.

Really, the only ones that seemed to share her sentiments though on the "Holy Tree" were the medic known as Malyn and the Sentinel who had most of her limbs replaced by mechanical ones, Calamine. The latter making sense due to the disease that had crippled her body. 

It was pathetic. The folklore of fools who didn't know Yggdrasil's true nature had taken root in the minds of her guildmates and now she was just waiting to watch it all crumble. 

The only blessing Yggdrasil had given her was the chance to escape a seemingly endless line of suitors arranged by her parents, each of them either succumbing to the disease or paranoia that they would one day catch it. Weak-minded fools. Such were most of the Imperials.  
Her captain...the son of a bitch who had dropped her here, he was no exception. Unable to move on from the past. Maelyrs snorted, rolling onto her side.

"You're noisy. I can hear you thinking." A cryptic response came from the girl lying on the bed beneath her. "Shut up. It's late."

Her sentences were short and to the point. Carlieta, a nightseeker who showed up one day and announced herself to the guild was scolding her. Again. 

Maelyrs smiled bitterly. "Can you now? So I'm sure you know exactly why I'm so pissed off."

"Don't care. Annie can do what she wants." 

"How spineless of you."

_"Don't care."_ She repeated. "Annie can do whatever she wants. I get fed and Basil seems happy."

Normally the imperial would snap at the nightseeker, but really who was she to talk. One of the only reasons she put up with this guild was the prospect of at least two full meals a day.  
She had gained a lot of weight. Her body had filled out, muscle replacing the ugly sight of her ribcage jutting through her skin. It happened surprisingly fast. Her captain always did talk about how you would gain more weight if you were starving. 

It was funny that he knew that. Everyone back in the Cloudy Stronghold was starving, even the royal family. Nobility only had it slightly better- maybe that was why her parents were so desperate to marry her off.  
Unfortunately for them her passion for her country was stronger than her desire to "settle down" and her prowess with a drive blade was enough to gain her "first captain's" approval- one of the few good things about the royal family. They knew how to hire capable fighters.

Maybe if she could stand the bastards who surrounded the Imperial Prince she would have pursued a position as one of his guards- but the time for that passed the moment her captain sent their airship hurtling over the cloud barrier. Had she been fully armored at the time, Maelyrs was sure she would have broken a hole in the ship. Falling to her death wouldn't have been an ideal way to go, but at least she would have been home.

Rolling back onto her back, she finds herself suddenly curling up into a ball, a sharp pain in her gut.  
If she didn't know better, she'd compare the twisting feeling of her guts to the roots of a tree.

**Author's Note:**

> "Honestly I thought you would understand by now."  
> Hands firmly placed on the steering wheel of the patrol ship, a man in black armor spoke.  
> "More importantly than anything, our loyalty is to our home- and the royal family. You really should know better, you know."
> 
> Maelyrs felt her body slam against the wall of the airship. They were soaring through the sky.


End file.
